“Vibrant” and “hopeful” are words you hear often these days from residents in the Drake neighborhood.

Credit the millions of dollars in private and public development flowing in and around Drake University, young people rehabbing blighted houses and newcomers coming to roost in a place once shunned for its scarier corners.

“I think it’s the liveliest I’ve ever seen,” said Diane Greenwood, who has lived near 32nd and Clark streets since 1980.

But away from all the construction, the farmers’ market and the community garden, there is some grumbling in the city’s largest neighborhood centered on its landmark: Drake University.

Drake University President Marty Martin during the 142nd Commencement Ceremony for Drake University on Saturday, May 13, 2017.(Photo: Drake University/Special to the Register)

That flies in the face of what Drake President Marty Martin has been trying to convey about improving the “symbiotic relationship” between the private campus of 5,000 and the surrounding neighborhood, which includes as many as 12,500 residents.

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Nelson Construction and Development plans to build a mixed-use project near Drake University. The development at 26th Street and University Avenue would feature a hotel, apartments, restaurant space and townhouses. BNIM and Nelson Construction and Development/Special to The Register

Nelson Construction and Development plans to build a mixed-use project near Drake University. The development at 26th Street and University Avenue would feature a hotel, apartments, restaurant space and townhouses. BNIM and Nelson Construction and Development/Special to The Register

Nelson Construction and Development plans to build a mixed-use project near Drake University. The development at 26th Street and University Avenue would feature a hotel, apartments, restaurant space and townhouses. BNIM and Nelson Construction and Development/Special to The Register

Nelson Construction and Development plans to build a mixed-use project near Drake University. The development at 26th Street and University Avenue would feature a hotel, apartments, restaurant space and townhouses. BNIM and Nelson Construction and Development/Special to The Register

Nelson Construction and Development plans to build a mixed-use project near Drake University. The development at 26th Street and University Avenue would feature a hotel, apartments, restaurant space and townhouses. BNIM and Nelson Construction and Development/Special to The Register

Nelson Construction and Development plans to build a mixed-use project near Drake University. The development at 26th Street and University Avenue would feature a hotel, apartments, restaurant space and townhouses. BNIM and Nelson Construction and Development/Special to The Register

Nelson Construction and Development plans to build a mixed-use project near Drake University. The development at 26th Street and University Avenue would feature a hotel, apartments, restaurant space and townhouses. BNIM and Nelson Construction and Development/Special to The Register

Nelson Construction and Development plans to build a mixed-use project near Drake University. The development at 26th Street and University Avenue would feature a hotel, apartments, restaurant space and townhouses. BNIM and Nelson Construction and Development/Special to The Register

Nelson Construction and Development plans to build a mixed-use project near Drake University. The development at 26th Street and University Avenue would feature a hotel, apartments, restaurant space and townhouses. BNIM and Nelson Construction and Development/Special to The Register

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Martin said the design was made with the neighborhood in mind, transitioning high-density housing to lower density "to keep with the character of the place."

City officials say they anticipate Nelson Construction will be seeking taxpayer-backed financing before construction begins next spring.

Two faculty who live in the neighborhood and at least one business owner — Drake Diner’s Steve Vilmain — were involved in early concept discussions at Drake about the development.

Nick Valdez, the community relations coordinator hired this summer by Drake(Photo: Special to the Register)

A new community relations manager, Nick Valdez, and Glenn Lyons, a paid consultant for the university, also visited with the neighborhood board members as they moved to a final design.

"We never claimed ever to be perfect in our communication, but I do believe — and sincerely believe — we've engaged in robust conversation about the project," Martin said.

Drake has had a decades-long tradition of working with organizations in the neighborhood, and especially under Martin, has sought opportunities to benefit residents when consistent with university goals, Martin said.

But in different corners of the neighborhood, some residents have complained the university did little to reach out before it came up with a plan that will alter a key stretch of the landscape along University Avenue.

And while the private project will expand the reach and feel of the campus, some feel its design does little to blend in with the diverse neighborhood surrounding it.

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Justin Alliss(Photo: Lee Rood/The Register)

“There’s a sense that the university does what the hell it wants without consulting the neighbors in advance,” said Justin Alliss, a relative newcomer who belongs to the Drake Neighborhood Association. “There’s never a ‘What does the association think … for making their plans fit in with ours?'”

Alliss says it seems to him as if university officials “want to keep the neighborhood out and the university in.”

Kristina Johnson, president of the neighborhood board, said the association generally has a "very productive" working relationship with Drake and President Martin, who has "invited us to be involved in discussions about crime and to the extent possible, the project along University."

No board members were involved in the decision-making process about that project, she said, "although we would have welcomed the opportunity."

Mark Schneider, treasurer of the neighborhood association, who has run a Forest Avenue auto repair shop for close to 15 years, said the project also felt a bit finessed by insiders because Lyons, the paid Drake consultant who with met with neighborhood leaders, also was running the Neighborhood Development Corp.

Lyons left for a different job this spring.

Under Lyons, that nonprofit corporation obtained land near 3201 Forest Ave. from Nelson Construction so it could build an apartment complex — mostly to benefit Drake students — a couple blocks west of the campus.

New apartments under construction this summer by the Neighborhood Development Corporation(Photo: Lee Rood)

Residents carry heavier burden

Perceptions about the university’s expanding reach matter more these days because the city’s core neighborhoods are changing so rapidly.

Drake University, while boasting an enormous economic impact in the city, also reaps big benefits covered by local taxpayers.

More than $255 million worth of Drake’s property is tax exempt because of its status as an educational institution, an amount that has expanded with the university, according to the Polk County Assessor’s Office.

That’s about two-thirds of all that kind of property in the city.

Only $3.4 million worth of the university’s property is taxable or partially taxable, according to the recorder’s office.

Unlike some tax-exempt organizations — big hospitals, utilities, even the nonprofit Des Moines Social Club — Drake does not make a voluntary contribution to the city to help cover some of its service costs in lieu of property taxes.

Drake residents, like others mentioned in this summer’s neighborhood Watchdog series, are also dealing with new challenges tied to the city's growth: pockets of crime, growing affordable housing needs and demands on services for low-income families and refugees.

People such as the Rev. Ryan Arnold, senior minister at First Christian Church at 25th and University, overwhelmingly applaud Drake’s recent efforts to get more involved — especially a move this year to bring a Boys and Girls Club after-school and summer program to campus.

Martin said the program stands to help 225 children and their families annually and he cannot "think of a single thing we could do to be more impactful" in the neighborhood.

But Arnold and others also have to worry about the effect the new development is having on minimum-wage workers who also live in the area and are seeing rents rise significantly.

The neighborhood association, meanwhile, is striving to do better outreach to better meet the needs of the diverse mix of people who live there.

Board member Lori Calhoun, who has been conducting a survey of residents’ needs and expectations, said residents want to see more community outreach.

They also have taken more interest in how the university's moves affect them and their property.

“It seems like when somebody’s cheese was getting moved, they began to show more concern about what it will mean,” Calhoun said.

Bakari Caldwell, an education major at the university and student senator tapped to lead community outreach efforts next school year, said many neighbors he’s talked to felt that the design of the new hotel, businesses and row houses across from Old Main were mostly aimed at benefiting the university.

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Bakari Caldwell, a student leader at Drake University, stands near the site of the new hotel expansion project near Old Main. (Photo: Bryon Houlgrave/The Register)

“Instead of bringing the neighborhood into the development, it was more for the campus and not for the neighborhood,” he said. “It’s going to create even more of a bigger bubble, or divide, between the campus and the neighborhood.”

Bakari, who is from Chicago and involved in mentoring local high school students, said he wants to see Drake integrate more of the neighborhood’s diversity into that kind of planning.

But Steve Vilmain, the diner owner who has had a close relationship with the university and four of its presidents, said the commercial development stands to benefit everyone, not just Drake.

Vilmain said he’s seen his own business increase substantially recently because of the new vitality in the area. Still, the neighborhood needs to improve its more downtrodden corners, he said.

Martin, who is in his second year, showed a lot of concern for residents bordering the new development, incorporating berms and special landscaping for their benefit, Vilmain said.

“It’s a win-win for everyone and will make everybody’s property more valuable,” he said. “I can’t tell you how vibrant things are getting. And this is going to help stabilize the neighborhood even more.”

Martin said the private university tried to be as open with neighborhood leaders in planning the new commercial development along University as it could be, given the sensitive legal negotiations that took place.

"But if we haven't fully succeeded, we need to learn from that and do better next time."

Watchdog Unleashed

The concept: Reader's Watchdog columnist Lee Rood hatched the idea on a cold night when she wanted to get back to her favorite solo activity: walking. When spring arrived, Rood resolved to break up her well-worn routes to rediscover the 52 neighborhoods that populate her hometown of 20 years.

For the next few months, she'll focus reporting on the big issues facing some of those neighborhoods.